4:40 PMAuthor(s):
*Mr. Hanif Rahemtulla - University College London Dr. Muki Haklay - University College London Professor Paul Longley - University College London
Session Description: The Geoweb—the intersection of geospatial technologies and information and Web 2.0—has created a paradigm shift in GIScience. A significant contribution of the Geoweb is its seeming facility to engage the public, whether this is accomplished through geo-referenced user generated contact, screen scrapings and mashups, or the geolocation of stories and points of interests on digital earths. A small, albeit uncritical, literature is emerging on the participation of the public in this emerging medium.
Presentations in this session showcase applications of and frame a critical research agenda for the Participatory Geoweb, which is the involvement of advocacy nonprofits, local communities, and marginalized peoples—the civil society—in the Geoweb (including the creation of virtual civil societies). They build on prior research in participatory GIS, and look towards assessing the varied technologies of the participatory Geoweb, understanding the nature of public, the extent to which participation is actually occurring and the association between participation and empowerment. Because this is a new medium, and (potentially) a new way of thinking about distributed online geospatial information, existing lessons of PGIS do not necessarily transfer. Finally, application and research agendas demonstrate the importance of responding to actual needs of people and remaining relevant to the civil society that has become transfixed (at least momentarily) by the Geoweb.
